Stephen Kubard, an American citizen who has been held in Russia for more than four years on charges of mercenaryism in Ukraine, has been released after US special envoy Steve Whitkoff’s visit to St Petersburg.
Hubard, a retired teacher, was classified by the U.S. State Department as an unjustly banned person.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had raised his case during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After the meeting, Witkoff thanked Putin for the release of American citizens. For his part, the Russian president announced that Kubard was at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, at the same airport where the US envoy had arrived earlier Wednesday, writes CNN, broadcast Dukaagjini.
Before Witkoff’s visit, an American official had stated that in the focus of the meeting there would be an attempt to ensure the release of Hubard, within Trump’s commitment to the return home of American citizens unjustly banned abroad.
Hubard had spent decades working as an English-language teacher outside the United States. In 2014 it was located in the Ukrainian town of Izium, east of the country, which was occupied by Russian forces at the start of the extensive invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
According to Russian state media, prosecutors claimed that Kubard had fought in Izium after signing a contract of payment about 1,000 dollars a month. However, his sister, Patricia Hubard Fox, has denied these accusations, calling them false.
His release came after another similar occasion in August, when Robert Gillman was released from the ban in Russia for humanitarian reasons amid major concerns about his state of health. The former American engineer returned to the U.S. on a specialised medical jet, in heavy physical condition.
The organisation that had supported his case declared that he had been tortured during his stay in prison.
However, some American citizens continue to be held in Russian prisons.
Andre Khachatorian, of Armenian descent, was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for arms trafficking, charges he denies. It was banned during a U.S. trip to Armenia, via Moscow.
David Barnes was arrested in 2022. According to the Foley Foundation, an organisation committed to the release of illegally detained hostages and persons, his arrest came following charges filed by his ex-wife, who had sent their two sons from Texas to Russia. The organisation claims that accusations of abuse had previously been dropped on two occasions by Texas authorities.
Meanwhile, Alexander Antonov, a naturalised American national who had come to the US as refugees from the Soviet Union, was arrested in 2025 while trying to cross from Russia to Estonia. According to the Foley Foundation, he was charged with inciting terrorism and extremism and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Also in Russian prisons is Olga Yezler, a permanent resident in the United States who was arrested for drug trafficking and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2022. According to the foundation, she was transporting legal CBD oil for her sister, who suffered from breast cancer, but Russian prosecutors classified the substance as weed oil.
Another case is that of Chuck Zimmerman, the former U.S. Navy Military, who, according to his supporters, was banned by the Russian Navy while sailing international waters. He was charged with arms trafficking after having a firearm on board.
After Gilman’s release, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department had expressed hope that this development would also pave the way for the release of other Americans who, according to Washington, are held unjustly in Russia.
Source Layer: Dukeagini